Redemption
by Sir Loin The First
Summary: Beneath the waves, you are alone. And when you are alone, you shall have the chance to reflect on your own actions, crimes and sins... Brutaka oneshot


"Vile beasts!" Brutaka snarled as the Giant squid snatched him up, and whisked him away from the laughing Barraki. He was a fool to have even considered allying with them for a moment. He tried to force his way out, to no avail. The squishy freak was just holding him too tightly. There was no chance of him getting his sword, unless... Brutaka remembered his mask. The Olmak.

He concentrated on the Zone of Shadows, painting a mental picture, and then opening a large portal to it... in front of the squid. The stupid animal swam straight into it, and Brutaka sealed the portal before the tentacle gripping him went in... Which basically severed the appendage from the rest of the body. Somewhere, some very happy Zivon was going to eat a five-course meal of squid, squid, and some more squid...

Brutaka treaded water, staying there, limbering up. He was going to find the Barraki, and he was going to make them pay. Then, after making them pay (through the dismemberment of many limbs), he was going to find that odious little Po-Matoran, and take the Mask of Life back from him. He began to formulate gruesome plans of revenge... But try as he would, another thought nagged at him from the back of his mind.

_Botar left you your mask and weapons. That is more than he did for the other prisoners. Why? _

_**Because Botar was a fool! He merely gave you a chance to find him and to destroy him! Another, harsher voice welled up.**_

_Or did he see what Axonn saw? A chance... for redemption?_

Brutaka stopped at that word. _Redemption._ It was so sweet, so close... and yet out of reach. He shook off the thoughts and notions, but they came back, more insistent than ever.

_**Fool. You lost the path to the light long ago. You denied Mata Nui, and thusly, he turned his back on you. You serve only yourself! Your heart is as dark as the midnight; your purpose is greed and deceit! You disgust me! **_

_No... You know that to be untrue. NO ONE is beneath redemption. No one._

_**Lies for the weak! Myths for fools! Delusions for the needy!**_

Brutaka was stunned. Why was it that he was hearing this? Two voices. Sorrow and anger. Light and darkness. Both talking of redemption, but yet still so different. Was he going insane?

_No. You aren't. You are merely seeing the light… finally._

Okay. He was. If, as the first suggested, he was seeing the light, then why now, of all times? Why not before he was banished to the dank, dark and deep destruction that was the Pit?

_**Because you did not see the light! Once you have turned from the light, you have turned forever!**_

The titan had no choice but to accept the angry words. Once on the path to destruction and self-interest, he would always stay on that path. History has taught him that much… in the forms of Nidhiki, Tuyet, and the Brotherhood. Why should he be any different? Shaking off the hopeless fantasy, he prepared to try to open another dimensional portal, only to be interrupted… yet again.

_If you insist, then yes. You did turn from the Light. But who says that you may not turn back? History? History can be rewritten! The Great Beings? The Great Spirit himself? Child of the Universe, you are but a strand on the vast tapestry that is Existence. They do not concern themselves with such petty matters. You, Brutaka, are the sole decider of your destiny. If you wish to finally turn your back on your redemption, fine. But, if you wish to do what no other being has done, then, by all means, do it._

_**No, Brutaka. History will tell you all. You, of all beings, should know. Were you not a scholar once? And history tells you that you cannot find redemption!**_

The Titan had to admit that was true. He once worked as a warrior-scholar for the Brotherhood of Makuta, before being recruited into the Order of Mata Nui. He could claim that his tenure amongst the Brotherhood had tainted him, made him susceptible to corruption, that it was the Makutas' faults… that it was Axonn's fault for not seeing what Brutaka was turning into… an opinion that he had thought to be true for quite some time… but he knew that in the end… he was the one who did the deed. He was the one to blame, not Axonn, Botar, or even Makuta. Nobody else.

_Good… the first step is acceptance. _

At this point, Brutaka was ready to accept about anything at this point… especially considering that HE would never have spoken like that.

_**Congratulations. You are now officially wasting your time.**_

Okay. Maybe the second one sounded like him.

_Everyone makes mistakes at some point. But the fact that you are 'wasting' your time with me, listening to my guidance, shows that you feel sorrow. Nidhiki, Tuyet, Makuta, the others that have become lost, they did not feel regret… sorrow… as you do now. That is why you are different._

_**No, he is still the same. Indubitably, Tuyet and Nidhiki would have felt regret at their fate! Just as he feels regret for his hideous mutations! How is he different?**_

At this, Brutaka looked all over his body, and too his horror, saw the effects of the Pit's mutagen manifesting. He was slowly turning amphibious. Gasping in horror, he realized that he would never be able to walk on land again… breathe clean air… and speak to those that he had once held dear.

_Then look and see. Brutaka, see what I see… see the face of evil…_

The two voices faded, and Brutaka's vision tunnelled, turning black… until he could see again. He saw a robotic sentinel laughing at a white Toa, proclaiming his efforts futile… and when the Toa spoke, he realized with a jolt that it was… Matoro. The Toa seemed very different, of different form, but his spirit still burned the same. The sentinel, whom he recognized as a guardian robot, spoke again, and he heard… not a metallic voice, but a voice of malice, of anger, of greed, and of destruction. It was the voice of Makuta. He spoke of the Staff of Artahka, and his plans to recreate the Nui Stone… which was destroyed many millennia ago. As quickly as the vision appeared, it faded away, replaced by his original vision.

The titan had a choice. Swim away, or stop this destruction that was sure to come. If the Nui stone would be recreated, Toa everywhere would stand no chance to the Brotherhood. Then, he made his choice. He visualized the area that Matoro was, created a portal, sent a blast of energy straight through it, and then went through himself.

Makuta did not expect the turn of events. First, he was holding the Staff of Artahka, then, somehow, it was blasted out of his hands, and a distinctively recognizable titan appeared out of midair. Brutaka.

"Who dares?" he snarled.

"In my time, I've dared lots of things. Maybe too many things." Brutaka sneered. "I fell a long way from the light, and I can never find my way back."

He grabbed the staff, and called out a name that he once dreaded. "BOTAR!"

The vanishing titan appeared, grabbed the staff, spared a nod of thanks, and disappeared, as Brutaka prepared for combat. He laughed a terrible laugh with a trace of insanity, and then became grim.

Redemption may not come, and it may come. But for now, this was a start.


End file.
